Intact Financial slipped 1.5 percent to close at C$57.52,
the lowest since Jan. 30, 2012. Shares of the Toronto-based
insurer have slid 11 percent this year, compared with the 0.4
percent decline of the 46-company Standard & Poor’s/TSX
Financials Index.

Recent rainstorms and flooding in Alberta “will likely be
a significant insured event for the industry,” Andre-Philippe
Hardy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said in a note today
to clients. “It is likely to lead to high catastrophe costs in
the second quarter of 2013.”

The flooding, the worst in the province’s history, has shut
down Calgary and forced the evacuation of thousands of
residents. Intact Financial is the largest insurer in Alberta,
according to company filings.

Damage is estimated at between C$3 billion ($2.8 billion)
to C$5 billion, Tom MacKinnon, an analyst at BMO Capital
Markets, wrote in a note to clients today. Losses after
insurance will be in range of C$2.25 billion to C$3.75 billion,
he said.